THE devastated family of a popular man who died while rowing with his friends have paid tribute to a ‘loving father and husband’ who had ‘so much more to look forward to’.

Mal Parker, 56, of Howgill Close, Little Sutton, died after suffering a heart attack while taking part in a corporate rowing event with his Essar’s Stanlow refinery colleagues on the River Dee last Wednesday afternoon. The news left his friends, family and fellow workers in a state of shock.

Speaking from their family home on Monday, Mr Parker’s devastated wife Jill, 51, spoke proudly of her popular husband, who she said was the nicest man you could ever meet, extremely modest and generous and a shining star in her life.

“He was a loving family man,” said Jill, who said she had been overwhelmed by the number of cards and heartfelt messages she had received from Mal’s friends and colleagues.

She said: “Wherever he is he will be really sad that this is it. He was not ready to leave us, it is such a tragedy.”

Jill, who met Mal when she was just 19 years old, describes her husband as kind, fun-loving and caring, saying he was extremely proud of their 15-year-old son, Daniel, who was studying for his GCSEs when his father passed away.

Daniel, who attends Abbey Gate College, described his father as the ‘best dad in the world’, saying how he used to go to watch him play football at the school and for Waverton, and smiling as he remembered the action-packed family holidays abroad and weekends away at the family holiday home in Abersoch.

Mal Parker, known as Mally to his friends, was born at his mother Eva’s home in Ellesmere Port in 1956.

He attended Ellesmere Port Grammar School before working his way up through the ranks at Shell’s Stanlow refinery, where he became an site production manager. He remained dedicated to his job and well-liked and was respected by the workers.

Jill said she had spoken to her husband, who adored gardening, cooking, fashion, Formula One and supporting Man-chester United, when he arrived at the Grosvenor Rowing Club in the hours before his death on Wednesday, saying he had made her laugh as he always did.

But a few hours later she said her generous husband, who adored sports and had always made her feel safe, was dead, despite never having any medical problems and not having visited the doctor’s for years.

In the days and weeks before his death, Mal had held barbecues and enjoyed a party to celebrate his mother’s 90th birthday with his brother Gordon and sister Mary, something which Jill says she will always remember as a ‘magical day’.

She added: “I hope he didn’t know anything about it [his death], but at least we know that when he died he was happy, having a laugh with his friends and he was a winner and doing something that he loved.

“We are devastated. I keep thinking that he is going to walk through the door.”